Caroline Kennedy has been floated as a possible ambassador to Japan. / Mary Altaffer, AP

by Fredreka Schouten, USA TODAY

by Fredreka Schouten, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON â?? Visit the U.S. Embassy in Albania, Bangladesh, Chad or most of sub-Saharan Africa or central Asia and you'll find a career diplomat representing the government's interests.

The picture is starkly different, however, in Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the Bahamas â?? all countries where 90% or more of the ambassadors in recent decades have been political appointees, according to the American Foreign Service Association, which represents career officers. Its data track all appointments since 1960.

It's a time-honored presidential tradition to reward political friends and campaign contributors with plum ambassadorships to Caribbean islands and glittering European capitals. The practice is getting fresh attention as President Obama weighs second-term appointments for the donors and fundraisers who help collect more than a $1 billion for his re-election.

In the 2012 campaign, 773 individuals and couples raised at least $50,000 for Obama, who is expected to fill about 30 political positions in his second term.

"It's a very competitive scene to get one of these jobs," said John Podesta, a former chief of staff to President Clinton who oversaw Obama's 2009 transition to the White House. Strong ambassadors have come from both the career and political ranks, he said.

Among the names in circulation: Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of late President John F. Kennedy, as a possible ambassador to Japan. Kennedy was an early Obama supporter, endorsing him in January 2008 over his better-established rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Matthew Barzun, an ex- tech company executive who chaired Obama's 2012 fundraising operation, is viewed as the top contender for England. He served as U.S. ambassador to Sweden during Obama's first term. Neither he nor Kennedy returned phone calls, and administration officials have not answered questions about specific appointments.

White House spokesman Eric Schultz said the administration is seeking qualified candidates from "all walks of life."

"Being a donor does not get you a job in this administration," Schultz said in a statement. "Nor does it preclude you from getting one."

Nearly 30% of Obama's ambassadors have been political appointees â?? in line with his predecessors. Even so, Susan Johnson, the president of the American Foreign Service Association, said there is too much patronage. She said the system hurts the morale and professional development of career diplomats.

"You are reserving ambassadorships for the moneyed elite," she said.

"Anybody who criticizes political appointees on a generalized basis doesn't know what they are talking about," said Louis Susman, a top fundraiser during Obama's 2008 campaign. He returned to the United States last week after serving nearly four years as the United States' top envoy to England, a position he called "the best job in the world."

The appointments are "not only based on what they have done for President Obama, but on qualifications and expertise," said Susman, a former Citigroup executive.

Not all political appointees have worked out. Cynthia Stroum, a Seattle venture capitalist and Democratic fundraiser, resigned her ambassadorship to Luxembourg in 2011 ahead of a scathing report by the State Department's inspector general that said her "confrontational management style" and and "bullying" had led to low morale at the embassy.

Stroum said the embassy had morale and financial troubles long before she arrived, and no senior career foreign service officers were sent along to help during her tenure. "In retrospect, I was ill-equipped and unprepared to manage the challenging situation I had inherited without a backup team in place," she said in an e-mail.

Two years later, the "resignation still stings," Stroum added. But, given the chance, "I would do it all over again."

Much of the recent attention has focused on Kennedy, who would join a long tradition of high-profile American envoys in Japan.

Previous ambassadors have included former vice president Walter Mondale and former Senate majority leader Howard Baker. Talk of her appointment comes as North Korea escalates its threatening rhetoric and as China and Japan feud over control of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.

Podesta said Kennedy, 55, is well qualified for the post. A lawyer by training, she serves as president of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum and co-chaired Obama's vice presidential search committee in 2008.

"She's a well-known commodity, who is quite close to the president, and that counts for a lot," Podesta said. "That direct channel to the secretary of State, the national security adviser and the president himself is extremely valuable."